You may be surprised at how nice you could get some bulder-grade treads and risers to look with the right finishing and paint. If it doesn't work, re-carpet.

under-stair storage where? could you show the 'under' portion?

Can you guys DIY at all?

for example, if you could demo everything, you'd prob save a thousand or more.

any idea if there are paint-grade treads under the carpet? you won't refinish them, but you could possibly paint them and the risers?

We would need to hire someone to help open stairs for storage.

Lift up the stairs, what you see is all there is.

We live here full time so whatever we do we need access or a hotel.

hiring someone to do under the stairs for storage is diff from redoing the staircase. you haven't said what your budget is. Have you gotten estimates for the storage part?

I asked if you could DIY because if you can do the dirty stuff, you can save money and put it towards the finishes

your treads/risers prob look like this. but if you can pull up all that carpeting and nails/tacks yourself, you'll save money.

Read this. She talks about hiring or doing some yourself:

https://www.bybrittanygoldwyn.com/carpeted-stairs-to-wood-should-i-diy-or-hire-a-pro/

what about this?

https://deeplysouthernhome.com/how-to-paint-stairs-striped-staircase-makeover/

Here's the before shot. this is what I meant by painting the treads/risers

You can look at diff ways to decorate the stairway walls (paint and art work, so does shiplap or wainscot)

https://designertrapped.com/diy-staircase-makeover

shiplap walls, under stair storage

Faux shiplap. learn to DIY!

https://momenvy.co/shiplapping-the-entry-one-room-challenge-week-two/

cheap and easy

https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/a-farmhouse-bedroom-makeover-part-2-shiplap

Thank you Beth, I’m reading the articles. There are two landings just to complicate it a bit. I saw one similar unit getting new carpet, and the stairs look like basic builder grade meant to be carpeted stairs. The carpet is original. We could rip it out but we are over 60 so would probably look for help. Slipping is a concern. I do like the wood and white look.

I think we could go with wood financially but it would not be DIY as we do not have all the tools and saws, etc. and a small one car garage for staging.

@joseph corlett we are a little south of you if you are interested….

ker,,right there with ya! I get it.

hire wisely. do your research. read up on what you want.

Perhaps you could remove that carpet so you could see what's under there?

There are so many options, it's hard to even mention only a few.

Take a look at Google Images search for "Stairway redo" of "Builder Basic Stairway remodel" and see what you like

I like the nice runners on stairs. you can get new treads for about $30 each (depending on size and wood species) that a stair guy could install. hopefully keeping the current risers and just painting those.

If the stairs are not up to code, once you touch them, they will need to meet code. A pro stair guy will know (hopefully) as opposed to some handyman guy that isn't aware of 'run/rise' requirements on a staircase. (I learned this lesson the hard way 10 years ago)

We had a house we were going to flip (kept it for a rental) and the feng shui issue was a concern in this neighborhood

1980. nothing in this house had been touched for 30 years.

we had someone rebuild the landing and turn, which we found out was completely out of code. So we redid it ourselves. hired someone to do the railing and the spindles. I did all of the staining and painting.

If this had been today, I would have done stained or painted treads, a runner, and some sort of wall treatment.

something like this. But that redo was back in 2011 and these trends weren't around!

so if you want something like a runner, you can try having your treads stained,,

stained, painted risers, jute or sisal runner.

I like this look. prob the cheapest out of your options just to use what's under the carpet. everything will have to be sanded very well, primed and painted.

What am I looking for: a carpenter, a remodeler, a flooring store, ??? Not sure who/what to search for.

You mentioned you live in Fl. What area? I know a floor guy in Palm Beach county.

I’m in southwest fl, just south of Venice. Thanks but Palm Beach will be too far.

You need stair refinisher. (or a pro who can redo stairs, and complies w/code) Flooring store if you plan on replacing any flooring.

if you need new treads for the stairs, you can find those online, building supply, stairway supply, etc.